I'm fine with putting people in a 21 day quarantine, in their own home, with a guarantee of food and water and other such necessities, with twice daily visits from health professionals to check their temperatures, if the people have been directly exposed to someone who is infected (aka the NBC camera crew and the family of Thomas Eric Duncan), because in that case, people have proved that they'll violate quarantine. With the health care professionals who have treated Ebola victims in west Africa, their level of exposure is most likely minimal, especially if they've been working for MSF, which has a very, very low transmission rate.
At this point, it's not clear that this nurse ever had a fever. Option A: believe the nurse's version of events. She says that a forehead thermometer gave a reading of 101 at the airport. When she was at the hospital, they checked her temperature orally; it was normal. They then checked with a forehead scanner, and it read 101 again; she claims that the false reading was due to her being flushed. I'm not a medical professional; I have no idea how accurate forehead temperature scanners are and under what conditions they can give false readings. Option B: she's a human; all humans lie. She did have a fever at some point at the airport. However, she's had two separate Ebola tests and has tested negative each time (and while she is the source for claiming that her tests are negative, I can guarantee that Christie would be telling anyone who'd listen how his policy saved NJ from exposure to Ebola if she were positive).
Gov. Cuomo and Gov. Christie have since backed down on their quarantine stance. They're now letting NY and NJ residents returning from west Africa who have treated Ebola patients to spend quarantine in their homes. The nurse is still screwed because she's a resident of Maine.
This quarantine isn't based on medical science; it's based on fear. While I have a low opinion of the CDC and their guidelines for Ebola, I do think that MSF knows what they're doing. They do have evidence based protocols in place for returning health workers: monitor one's temperature twice a day and report any symptoms immediately.
Finally, what about the medical professionals treating the patient in Bellevue? Are they going to be quarantined while they're treating the patient? They have at least the same probable level of exposure as the medical professionals who have been in west Africa.
Also, medical professionals can still fly into DC or Atlanta and avoid this nonsense... or a flight to Canada and then a road trip across the border.